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Israeli Official: Palestinians Celebrating Failure of Peace Talks
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - PA President Mahmoud Abbas returned from Washington on Thursday to a hero's welcome in Ramallah, where he told thousands of Palestinians at a rally that in his meeting on Monday with President Obama, "I have honored my pledge and kept my promise" not to give up Palestinian rights. One Israeli government source said it was reminiscent of Yasser Arafat's return from Camp David in 2000, when it appeared that the Palestinians were celebrating the failure of peace talks. The second intifada broke out shortly thereafter. "If the Palestinians celebrate rejectionism, they're closing the door to Palestinian statehood, because the only way to achieve a Palestinian state is through negotiations and agreement with Israel," the official said. "A rejectionist position makes Palestinian statehood impossible, and in maintaining such a position, ultimately the Palestinians are only hurting themselves."